Then 3) you will get ideas and necessary items from the Contractors that come to give you their bids.You will finally arrive at a complete SOW, but it takes a while.

I've noticed a few times there's drug related items laying around like bongs, etc.

If you weren't the policy holder, then you would have to get the person who had that policy in their name at the time (sounds like your brother) to file the claim and get things going.One other item to keep in mind is that you also need to know what the deductible is for water damage under that policy (if there was one in place).  

I was moreso concerned if it prevented me from writing off certain taxable items because the property was program assisted. 

Methodically eliminating every item on the inspection report starting with the safety hazards to cosmetic.

What you need to do is once you get that, find out how much it will cost to fix the items and then negotiate with the seller to lower your price.If house prices drop in the short term, it only matters if you plan on selling or refinancing. 

Only when I was for sure items 1-4 above were met, did I start the hunt. 

But in any case, you just have to make sure you are all on the same page about the direction you want to go or what you expect.You would probably need to look into how all the operations and legal and signature items will work with multiple members listed on the company docs.You mentioned needing to make twice the money, might be true, however half of something is better than half of nothing right.

I read an article recently on budgeting for a major maintenance item such as a roof that will be needing to be replaced in say 5 years.  

And on the expense side make sure you keep all records, i.e. canceled checks, receipts, invoices (not just CC but actual itemized receipt), plus copies of bank & CC statements to back them up.